Gyrokinetic Electron and Fully Kinetic Ion Particle Simulation of Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection

本研究继续调查的2-D和3-D电流片不稳定性与有限的引导场，在现实中，并进一步扩展和验证的回旋电子和完全动力学离子模型的磁重联过程。磁场重联是实验室和空间等离子体中的一个基本过程，是托卡马克等离子体发生大、小扰动的物理机制。本论文将回答以下具体的科学问题：（1）在不同的导场作用下，电流片中产生的不稳定性的线性本征模结构和谱特性是什么？(2)非线性不稳定性的性质及其在电流片异常电阻率中的作用。在引导场存在的情况下，如何在本地触发重连。(3)重联是如何演变的？在一个允许多个磁岛存在和相互作用的大系统中，目前是二维的，重联率是多少？在各种尺度和边界条件下，准定常重联结构的Riemann问题能否得到基本解，为这项研究开发的创新和先进的模拟工具将在实验室等离子体中各种非线性波和波粒相互作用的模拟以及太阳耀斑和磁层输运物理中有更广泛的应用。由于磁重联是磁约束等离子体中的基本过程之一，因此这项研究肯定会对聚变研究产生影响，其中低碰撞条件下电磁波动引起的输运过程的动力学分析是一个具有挑战性的问题。该奖项由数学和物理科学理事会物理司和地球科学理事会大气科学司共同资助

This research continues investigation of 2-D and 3-D current sheet instabilities with a finite guide field, as in reality, and further extends and validates a gyrokinetic electon and fully kinetic ion model for the magnetic reconnection process. Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental process in laboratory as well space plasmas, attributed to be the underlying physical mechanism for major or minor disruptions of tokamak plasmas. The following specific science questions will be answered: (1) What are the linear eigenmode structure and spectral properties of instabilities generated in current sheet with various guide fields. (2) What are the properties of nonlinear instabilities and their roles in the anomalous resistivity in current sheet. How is the reconnection triggered locally in the presence of the guide field. (3) How does the reconnection evolve, and what is the reconnection rate in a large system, 2-D for now, that allows the presence of and interaction between multiple magnetic islands? Can the basic solutions of the Riemann problem, for structure of quasi-steady reconnection, be reached in system with various sizes and under various boundary conditions.The innovative and advanced simulation tools developed for this research will have a much broader application to simulations of various nonlinear waves and wave-particle interaction in laboratory plasmas and physics of solar flares and transport in the magnetosphere. Since magnetic reconnection is one of the fundamental processes in magnetically confined plasmas, this research will certainly have an impact on research of fusion interest, where kinetic analyses of transport processes due to electromagnetic fluctuations in low-collisionality conditions is one of the challenging problems.This proposal was submitted to the NSF-DoE Partnership in Plasma Science and Engineering joint solicitation 08-589. This award is being funded jointly by the Division of Physics of the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate and by Atmospheric Sciences Division of the Geosciences Directorate